Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Vows On Wednesday To Return Tens Of Thousands Of Residents , evacuated from the northern border areas to their homes, reports "Reuters".
"I have said it before, we will return to the citizens of the north in their safe homes and that is exactly what we will do," he said in a short video statement, without elaborating.
His statement came amid rising tensions with the Iran-backed movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon.
In the brief video statement, Netanyahu made no mention of the remotely detonated thousands of pagers and hand-held radios used by agents of Hezbollah, which has blamed Israel for the attack. These accusations were also supported by Iran.
In separate remarks, Defense Minister Yoav Galant said more forces were being sent to the northern border, where Israel exchanges daily fire with Iran-backed "Hezbollah" for months as the war moves into a new phase.
"The center of gravity is shifting to the north, which means we are allocating forces, resources and energy to the northern arena," he said in remarks released by his office.
We recall that the number of victims rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Wednesday. Tuesday's attack wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many of the extremist group's fighters and Iran's ambassador to Beirut.
It was later reported that at least seven people were killed and hundreds more injured in Damascus, the capital of Syria, after pager explosions.
Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese pager maker, has denied making the devices, citing a company in Hungary instead.
The pager devices used in the mass detonations in Lebanon were never in Hungary. This was stated by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in an official statement on the case.
Hand-held radio transmitters (Walkie Talkies) used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah exploded late Wednesday afternoon in the southern part of the country and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. At least one of the explosions occurred near a funeral organized by "Hezbollah" for those killed the day before when thousands of pagers used by the group exploded across the country.
The group said on Wednesday it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike against Israel after its fighters' pagers suddenly exploded, injuring thousands in Lebanon.
Although Israel has not commented, the attack has put the spotlight on Israel's secretive 8200 cyberwarfare unit.